Til the Morning Light
by horseluvr4
Summary: April tells the others she doesn't have an ideal man in mind and it sparks a realization in Jackson. Tiny bit of angst, mostly fluff. Jackson/April.


Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's, just messing around with my favorite characters. Just stating the obvious.

A/N: Just something that sprang into my head. I've never written Grey's fanfiction before (it's intimidating, messing with well-written characters!), but I love Japril so much I had to. It's a bit AU in that it's set loosely before they sat the boards, but after Jackson and Lexie broke up, and April didn't go out with Stark.

* * *

April Kepner was not having a good day. It was only noon and two patients had already coded in the ER. All she wanted was a nice, peaceful lunch, but she should have known the residents of Seattle Grace never abided by "peaceful".

"Alex got stuck with a patient who's engaged and freaking out about true love," Meredith greeted her as soon as April sat down with her lunch. She leaned in conspiratorially, "Apparently his ideal woman isn't anything like his fiancée. Typical cold feet."

April made a non-committal noise in reply.

"Bet he asked what your ideal woman was like," Cristina said drily, inspecting a French fry before popping it in her mouth.

"Big boobs and long legs. He didn't look too surprised," Alex sniggered.

"Alex! You said that to a patient?" April asked, appalled.

"Lighten up, Kepner," Alex drawled. He eyed her derisively. "We all know you've got some long checklist your ideal man has to tick."  
Cristina groaned next to him.

"Don't get her started. Knowing her, it'll be detailed and long, beginning with 'nice personality'."

Alex snorted.

"As a matter of fact, I don't have a list," April said primly, picking at her salad.

"Bullshit. Women who say that are always lying. Or they have freaking low self-esteem," Alex said, laughing.

"Well, I'm not lying. There's no such thing as an ideal man."

Feeling the disbelieving stares from around the table, April flushed.

"Why is that so hard to believe?" April bristled.

"Because you're the type who watches stupid romantic comedies and dreams of playing house to seven kids?" Alex suggested sarcastically.

"For your information, I'm a surgeon, not a baby-sitter," April snapped, and stood up.

"If I knew I was going to get the interrogation I get every time I go home, I would have eaten in my office. Now, if you'll excuse me, I actually have patients, and a career, to take care of," she said icily.

Watching her stalk off, Alex shook his head lazily.

"I knew it. Worst type of chick. High expectations and low self-esteem."

* * *

"I thought I'd find you here," Jackson said to April's taunt profile. She lightened her grip on the rail, exhaling with surprise, as she turned away from the NICU. She smiled tiredly when she saw it was him.

"Three patients coded on me today. I just…wanted to forget," she said softly, turning back to the babies.

"If Alex could see you now, it'd only reinforce his idea from lunch," Jackson teased her.

"Great, you heard about that already?" April sighed.

"Gossip travels fast around here, you know that," Jackson reminded her with a grin, taking a moment to survey his best friend. She looked worn out, a few wisps of her red hair curling rebelliously out of the loose bun at the nape of her neck, but her mouth was tugged into a soft smile subconsciously.

Even when they had been mere acquaintances, Jackson had seen her quiet grace, but as her best friend, he felt privileged to see April at moments like these, when everything fell away. She was adorable in her righteous fury at rule-breakers—he stifled a grin remembering how difficult the merger had been for her, here where people followed their instincts and not the fine print—but she was admirable when she was challenged. She had never been one to give up lightly, and he respected that as a man who had had to push himself throughout his life.

He was suddenly struck with how she looked gorgeous even in the harsh lighting of the hospital hallway. She tilted her head, mimicking one of the babies, and the wistful, faraway look in her eyes tugged at his heart.

When had he started to think of April Kepner as beautiful?

"When you're ready, do you want to grab a drink at Joe's before we head back home? I'll buy you a round to make up for your bad day," Jackson offered, keeping his tone light. They'd gone to Joe's before, he told himself. It was perfectly normal. Best friend duties.

"That sounds perfect, thank you," April sighed, flashing him a small smile.

He smiled shakily back, trying to ignore the way his heartbeat speeded up at the glowing look of appreciation in her eyes.

He was so, so screwed.

They commenced watching the babies toss and turn in silence.

* * *

Now that he had admitted to himself that he found April attractive, Jackson couldn't unsee it. It was as if he had suddenly unstoppered all the little things he hadn't realized he'd noticed before: the graceful way she held herself upright like a dancer, the easy smile and fondness in her eyes when she spoke about the patients who had pulled through, the mischievous grin she gave him when she hopped up onto the bar stool as she ordered her drink, greeting Joe merrily. April wore her heart on her sleeve unapologetically, even when she was ridiculed for it. He remembered the time she had had a crush on Alex and scowled.

It made him think about April's supposed outburst at lunch that day. What kind of man did she go for? It rankled that all he had to go on recently was Alex; they had both changed so much since their intern days that he supposed he couldn't seriously compare her crushes from back then. Alex certainly wouldn't be Jackson's choice for April, nor would he have expected her to choose him to like.

He really had no idea why she had ever gone for Alex in the first place, Jackson realized with a guilty twinge. He'd been too wrapped up in himself to be there for April.

He couldn't stop thinking about it.

It was after they had tossed back a drink each that curiosity finally got the better of him.

"So do you really have no ideal man in your head?" Jackson blurted, and April groaned.

"Why do people keep asking me that? No!"  
"Everyone has some idea," Jackson protested. "And I know you're a romantic!"  
"I don't know why everyone insists you have Barbie-dollhouse-ideals if you're a romantic," April said, frustrated. She hesitated. Perhaps it was the drink that made her add softly, "I'd rather be open to being surprised. You never know who'll come around."

Jackson pointed at her triumphantly. "I knew it! Romantic," he grinned.

April smiled at him, and then sipped slowly from her glass again.

She certainly blamed the drinks for the next words that slipped out from her mouth.

"And besides, I can't afford to be choosy."

Jackson's hand paused, mid-lift.

"What do you mean, April?"

His voice was gentler than she had expected.

"Oh, you know, I'm not in-your-face-attractive, I'm more the dorky girl next door. Actually, more like the neurotic, workaholic virgin next door with a whiny voice. Who wants that?" April said bitterly, looking down at the glass in her hand and swirling the ice cubes in it around. Once. Twice.

"It's OK, I resigned myself to it ages ago. It's better not to have high expectations."

She downed her drink and turned to Jackson.

"You ready to head back home?"

Her bright smile faded at the shocked look on his face.

"What?" she stammered.

There was a fire in Jackson's green eyes that she had never seen before.

"April. You can't seriously believe that." His voice was soft, but without pity. For that, she was grateful.

She shrugged. Clearly, he still didn't get it.

"It is what it is."

She squirmed a little under his intent gaze.

"Let's just go and pretend this never happened, okay?" she said nervously, patting his shoulder.

She stifled a gasp when he caught her wrist, tugging her closer. It was hard to ignore the mad thumping of her heart this close to him, she thought wildly, as she fought to keep her emotions in check.

Up close, Jackson Avery was even more undeniably handsome.

And he was staring at her as if she was the only person in the world.

She swallowed nervously. _He's just your best friend, _she reminded herself firmly. _Treat him like one._

"Seriously, Jackson, let's go," she suggested, and she exhaled in relief when he stood up.

She turned to go when his arm wrapped around her waist, turning her back to look at him.

"No," he said simply, and her brow furrowed in confusion.

"You deserve to know how wonderful you are, April, and any guy," his voice dropped lower, and she resisted the urge to close her eyes at the slight rumble in his voice, "would be beyond the moon to call you his. You shouldn't ever put yourself down like that. And for the record," April watched in disbelief as his eyes flitted down to her lips, "you're too stunning to be the girl next door."

She almost missed his last few words, so intensely aware of his every breath, every flicker of his eyes. She had thought about him that way, of course she had; he was the type of guy who drew all the girls' eyes in the nearby vicinity and left them twittering and preening. She had wondered what it would feel like to kiss him too when she kept bursting in on him and Lexie making out, that split second before irritation took over. But she had never seriously thought she would ever be in this situation.

"Jackson…you're drunk. You can't possibly…" she trailed off weakly, wetting her lips.

His eyes instantly darkened, and his hand left her wrist to cup her face, his thumb stroking her jaw gently. She turned her face unto the palm of his hand with a shiver, and he leaned in close. Too close.

"I'm not. Are you?" he murmured, and she jerked her head sideways, dazed.

"Good. Then we'll both remember this," was the last thing she heard before he finally closed the distance between them, his mouth warm and sure against hers. He angled his head to deepen the kiss, his tongue flitting out and begging entrance. She tipped her head back to let him in, opening her mouth and shyly twining her tongue around his. He groaned and pulled her closer as she let one hand fall flat against his chest, arching into his kiss.

Wolf whistles brought them back to reality.

"Get a room!" someone shouted, and April broke apart from Jackson. He noted how she was blushing, her lips slightly swollen and infinitely kissable, with an irrational flare of pride. Her head was ducked, and Jackson knew she was feeling self-conscious.

He wanted to kiss her again, but as her best friend, he knew she needed to talk.

"April?" he prompted gently.

She fidgeted, tucking a lock of her hair behind her ear.

"We just…I mean…"

Jackson waited patiently, knowing her propensity to just blurt out what she was thinking eventually.

He wasn't disappointed.

"Was that just a you're pretty, feel better kiss or a you're my best friend so cheer up kiss, or a I'm just checking to make sure you can at least kiss kind of kiss, or…"

"Best friends don't kiss like we just did," he couldn't resist cutting into her rant to tease her.

She blinked at him, and he felt some consternation at the unsure look in her eyes.

"It was a you're beautiful, not just pretty, and I want to see if we can be more than friends kiss," he said simply, and her eyes widened.

"So, a normal kiss, really," he ventured to add with a grin.

April slapped his shoulder with an answering smile.

"OK," she said quietly, and his grin widened.

"OK," he echoed happily, and she shook her head at him.

As they left the bar, Jackson swung an arm around her shoulders, bringing her close to his side.

"And I didn't even have to bring out the Avery sparkle," he said thoughtfully, giving her shoulder a squeeze.

April's laughter split the evening air.


End file.
